Menu

Category Archives: life

Generally I try not to get caught up in memes, where a bunch of people try to do similar posts on the same day. (I’m not entirely opposed to memes, it just doesn’t suit the way I personally write or work.)

I’ve been thinking about the impermanence of life lately (not in a morbid or suicidal way, just in a that’s-how-it-is kind of way). And it strikes me that eulogies can be pretty important. I think this is the best one ever: John Cleese’s eulogy of his Monty Python cohort Graham Chapman, in 1989:

For the record, when I eventually die, I want my eulogy to be at least this good. If no one’s laughing at my memorial service, something’s REALLY wrong, and I’d be pissed off.

I’m spending the weekend relaxing up at my cabin near the Continental Divide. We only have dialup net access here. (Don’t razz me for getting online from here. I use my computer and e-mail for much more than just work!)

Trouble is, Gmail is Ajax-heavy — and thus desperately slow to load and use over a dialup connection.

My solution? When I’m up here at the cabin I use the mobile version of Gmail. It’s totally bare-bones, but it’s good enough for quickly checking or searching my mail.

So if you’re on dialup occasionally or regularly, and you want to use an online service or site that’s desperately slow to load, see if they offer a mobile version. It might not have everything you want, but it might be good enough and much less tedious.

Oh, and also try changing your browser’s preferences so that you’re not automatically downloading images. That speeds things up, too. Less pretty, more practical.

And now, back to relaxing on the deck, in a cool summer breeze, with a glass of rich red Argentinian wine and a book of bizarre short stories by Vladimir Nabokov… Priorities, folks…